Chance and dispensing device



March 31, 1936.

D. M. DICKSON 2,035,949

CHANGE AND DISPENSING DEVICE Filed June 4, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet lMfiieksan,

INVENTOR Patented Mar. 31 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ApplicationJune 4,

6 Claims.

This invention relates to chance and dispensing devices and has for anobject to provide a device of this character of the punch board typewherein there is provided a board having con- 5 cealed detents which maybe punched loose or dislodged to eventually release a merchandise orother character of prize when the key detent is dislodged.

A further object is to provide a device of the nature indicated whichmay be used as a medium for stimulating sales in stores and which willbe formed of a few, inexpensive parts so constructed that after eachdispensing operation the device may be discarded if desired or may bereloaded.

A further object is to provide a novel bolt for releasing the prizecarrier and which may be located at any predetermined position withinthe area covered by the detents so that the detents may not be releasedin any regular order to free the bolt and allow the dispensing carrierto operate, thus providing the element of chance.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists ofcertain novel details of construction and combinations of partsheareinafter fully described and claimed, it being understood thatvarious modifications may be resorted to within the scope of theappended claims without departing from spirit or sacrificing any of theadvantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a chance and dispensing deviceconstructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is an edge elevation of the prize carrier.

Figure 6 is a detail perspective view of the latch.

Referring now to the drawings in which like characters or referencedesignate similar parts in the various views, the frame or body of thedevice is shown to comprise a back wall I0 upon the front face of whichare formed a chamber I I and a slot I2 disposed at a right angle to thechamber and communicating with, the chamber. The chamber is formed withan extension I3 at the upper end and with a substantially rectangulardepression I4 in the bottom near the upper end 1935, Serial No. 24,949

as shown in Figure 2. Also a guide rib I5 extends upwardly from thelower end wall I6 of the chamber to guide the prize carrier I1 and alsoprovide a space I8 through which the prize winner may remove themerchandise or other prize article when the carrier is in dispensingposition.

The carrier I1 is preferably formed of thin sheet metal provided at thetop with a rearwardly extending guide lip I9 which is adapted to fit inthe depression I4 and coact with the guide rib I5 in directing slidingmovement of the carrier. The carrier is provided with a forwardlyextending ledge at the bottom to support the article of merchandise orother prize package. A substantially U-shaped leaf spring 2| is mountedin the chamber I I above the carrier and exerts downward pressure uponthe carrier to push the carrier to dispensing position. A pair ofstaples 22 secure the spring to the wall of the chamber and in thepresent embodiment of the invention the stationary leg of the spring isprovided with a terminal prong 23 which is driven into the wall of thechamber and coacts with the staples in mounting the spring.

The carrier is provided in one edge with a plurality of semicircularnotches 24 to interchangeably receive the substantially circularterminal 25 of a latch 26 which is pivoted intermediate the ends asshown at 21 to the bottom wall of the chamber. at one end to the bottomwall of the chamber by a staple 29 or other connector and the free endof the leaf spring engages in rear of a terminal finger 30 formed on thelatch adjacent to the circular terminal 25 and exerts outward pressureon the latch tending to disengage the terminal 25 from the notch 24 andfree the carrier to be pushed downward by its spring H. The latch 24 isheld in locking position against the tension of its controlling spring28 by means of a bolt 3|.

The bolt 3| is sli'dably fitted in the above mentioned slot I2 and isprovided in the upper edge with a notch 32 which provides a finger 33 atthe end of the bolt. The finger 33 overlaps a similar finger 34 formedon the latch 26, and holds the latch locked to the carrier. When thebolt is freed the finger 34 of the latch shoves the bolt 3| laterallytoward the carrier until it abuts a stop 35 disposed between the carrierand'the bolt. The bolt is held withdrawn into the slot I2 to hold thelatch in looking position by means of a plurality of detents 36.

The detents 36 may be in the nature of pins, sales tickets or otherelements carried in open- A leaf spring 28 is fixed b ings 31 in theback wall or board I0. As shown best in Figure 3 approximately one-halfthe area of the board to the left of the carrier is devoted to mountingthe detents 36 so that certain rows of the detents will naturally passthrough the bolt 3! and lock the bolt to the board against endwisethrust of the latch. The detents are punched out With a pin, punch or inany other manner, and it will be seen that when the last detent holdingthe bolt is dislodged, the bolt is freed and permits the latch 26 to beswung on the pivot 2! by the controlling spring 28 and disengage theterminal 25 from the notch 24 in the carrier.

A front Wall or board 38 is secured in any preferred manner to the rearwall or board Ill and forms a closure for the chamber H and slot I2. Thefront board covers and conceals the carrier, the latch, and the bolt andis provided with openings 39 which align with the openings 31 in therear Wall to receive the detents 36. A window opening 49 is formed inthe front wall 38 and is provided with a transparent pane 4| which maybe mounted upon stop strips 42 secured to the longitudinal edges of thewindow opening, as shown in Figure 4, and a stop strip 43 secured to thetop edge of the Window opening, as shown in Figure 2. Brads 44 or othersecuring devices may be driven into the front board around the edges ofthe window opening to clamp the pane in position against the stopstrip-s The pane is of sufiicient length to extend to the ledge 29 onthe carrier I! when the carrier is in raised position so that the prizepackage may be visible but may not besurreptitiously removed withoutbreaking the pane. Below the pane, as heretofore mentioned, a spaceexists through Which the contents of the carrier may be removed by theprize Wll'll'le'r when the carrier ispushed to dispensing position byits spring 2|.

In operation, when the device is used to stimulate trade, the detentsmay have 'difierent values corresponding to sales tickets and when asale is made the customer may punch out one or more of the detents tocorrespond to the amount on the sales receipt. Since the detents extendover a wide area and are identical there is no possibility of anysystematic punching out of the detents in any regular order so that thusthe element of chance is provided. When the key or last detent whichholds the bolt is punched out, the bolt is freed and releases the latchto be moved by its controlling spring from locking engagement with thecarrier. The carrier is immediately pushed by its controlling spring todispensing position below the pane 4|.

In manufacturing the device'the slot l2 may be placed at differentlocalities in different boards and the plurality of notches 24in thecarrier will thus permit one carrier to be manufactured and fit all ofthe various boards since whenever the slot I2 is arranged in a differentposition from that shown in Figure 3 it is simply necessary to disposethe latch 26in a corresponding position, under which circumstances theterminal 25 of the latch will engage in a different notch 24 than shownin Figure 3.

From the above description it is thought that the construction andoperation of my invention will be fully understood without furtherexplanation.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus of the class described comprising a frame having a chamberand a slot extending transversely to the chamber, a spring presseddispensing carrier slidable longitudinally in the chamber, a lockingbolt slidably fitted in the slot, 2. spring pressed latch in the chamberengaging the bolt and the carrier and normally holding the carrier atone limit of its movement in the chamber, and a plurality of manuallyreleasable detents locking the bolt atone limit of its movement in theslot.

2. Apparatus of the class described comprising a frame having a chamberand a transverse slot entering the chamber, a carrier disposed at oneend of the chamber, a spring tending to push the carrier to the oppositeend of the chamber, a locking bolt in said slot, a pivoted latch in thechamber operatively connected to the bolt and interlockingly engagingsaid carrier, a spring tending to swing the latch out of engagement withthe carrier and to move the bolt endwise, and a manually releasabledetent locking the bolt stationary on the frame against the tension ofthe latch controlling spring.

3. Apparatus of the class described comprising a frame having a chamberand a transverse slot entering the chamber, a carrier disposed at oneend of the chamber and spring pressed to move bodily to the opposite endof the chamber, a

transparent closure for the chamber exposing.

the carrier and terminating short of the lower end of the chamber topermit access to the carrier when the carrier is moved by its springbeyond the closure, a pivoted latch engaging said carrier, a bolt insaid slot engaging the latch,

a locking latch for the carrier, a bolt normally 1 holding the latchengaged with the carrier, a manually releasable detent normally holdingthe bolt at one limit of its movement, a spring operatively engaging thelatch to disengage the latch from the carrier upon removal of saiddetent, a closure concealing the carrier, and guides between the carrierand the frame for directing sliding movement of the carrier underpressure of its controlling spring to a position beyond the closure. 7

5. A device of the class described comprising a frame having a-pluralityof transverse open ings, detents in said openings, a locking boltengaged by certain of the detents, a carrier on the frame for dispensingan article, andmeans between the bolt and the carrier and operativelyconnected to the bolt and the carrier for moving the carrier bodily onthe frame to dispensing position when certain of said detents areremoved from said openings. 7

6. A device of the class described comprising a frame, a spring pressedcarrier on the frame, a

ergized by displacement of certain of the pins to move the carrier todispensing position.

DONALD M. DICKSON.

